


i blame the full moon

by aceofsparrows



Series: The Dragon Prince: 10 min prompts [5]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 10 min prompt fic, F/M, Post-Book: Through the Moon (The Dragon Prince), THROUGH THE MOON SPOILERS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofsparrows/pseuds/aceofsparrows
Summary: Rayla realises she's in a bit over her head after leaving the Nexus.* * *Anon prompt from tumblr: Rayla having a low moment after realizing how alone she is once she leaves CallumTHROUGH THE MOON SPOILERS
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: The Dragon Prince: 10 min prompts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957576
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	i blame the full moon

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much to this anon! I’ve been wanting to write something about Rayla post-TTM, but haven’t found the right context for it yet (without committing to something longer) so this was the perfect opportunity!
> 
> obviously, Through the Moon spoilers abound, so if you haven't read it yet, leave now!
> 
> I wrote this in 10 (actually more like 20) minutes with minimal editing! 
> 
> Enjoy ❤️

The days blur together faster than she expects. Somewhere East of the border she loses track, the long days and anxious nights smudging like wet charcoal until she can’t remember how long it’s been since the Nexus. 

How long it’s been since she left Callum. 

She pushes Northeast, skirting around the Silvergrove and the Midnight Desert. The forests are lonely and mostly uninhabited by elves; from what little she knows about the far East it’ll take a while for her to reach the Earthblood territories near Umber Tor and the Drakewood. She doesn’t know where Viren will go, exactly, but she’s got to find a lead sooner rather than later, right? 

The going is slow. She rests fitfully, only getting a full night of sleep when she’s run herself to the point of exhaustion; the nightmares are only worse now that she’s away from everything. The days are tiring and lonely and there’s far too much time to think. 

About what she’s done. About where she’s going. About _him_. 

One night, weeks-- maybe even months-- after the Nexus, she camps on a riverbank. There’s no need for a fire with the heat of the summer days still warming the ground, and she uses the last of the daylight to reluctantly bathe in the shallows of the rushing water. 

There’s a scar just above her wrist, one she’d almost forgotten about, from the assassin’s binding. A deep-set ring of white on her pale skin, and little blossoms of discoloration like a deep bruise. She trails her finger along it, caught up in a momentary memory. 

_I’m going to hand you the egg. I’m sorry if I was a jerk before, Rayla. We’re lucky to have you as our friend. I_ do _trust you._

They should never have trusted her. 

She dresses when she’s done, putting on the clothes that now feel grimier and are starting to get too small. She didn’t expect to grow much more, but it’s been months since she left home and somewhere along the way she _did_ turn sixteen... 

The sun sets, and she climbs a tree to stay out of sight. Darkness hangs heavy, and suddenly everything is too much. The bark is too rough behind her back, the water dripping from her still-wet hair is too cold on her shoulders, the pressure of all those pesky _thoughts_ in her head is too heavy. 

“It feels like it’s been forever,” she whispers to the stars that are peeking through the foliage. “I miss you.” 

The stars know she isn’t talking to them. 

“There are so many things I didn’t tell you that I should have. So many things I wanted to say but didn’t know how. I owed you the truth but instead I hid behind a lie. I’m sorry.” 

_White lies are illusions you build with your words to protect the hearts of those you love._

“I thought this would be easy. I thought it was the right thing to do. But I--” She looks down at her hands, pale in the moonlight ( _the moon is full again; how many moons has it been?_ ), and takes a deep breath. A tear runs down her cheek, or maybe it’s just a drip from her hair. “I don’t know how to do this without you. I don’t know how to be alone. But I have to, because that’s what I chose. Because I love you.” 

A cloud passes over the moon. She takes it as a sign and leans back against the trunk of the tree, nestling into the crook of the branch. She should try to sleep, even if she fails. 

Tracing the scar on her wrist one more time, she whispers “I love you” to him, wherever he is. 

When she finally falls asleep, she dreams of falling through a thousand orange-pink clouds, and nothing coming to catch her. 


End file.
